Well personally I write about ships but I choose the characters based only on how my character’s personality will look “on” the members... hmmm I mostly write about the usual couples as well but only because I can imagine the exact members with the personality I create. Nothing more nothing less... and yeah like my basic theme is /angst and I can’t imagine Chen in (not because he’s married for gods sake) cause he’s too angel-like in my eyes if it makes sense? Hahahahaha he’s always been since the beginning, my cute smol innocent boy, but I agree on the stereotypes part

Well I agree with you. I have tried to at least have one shot of each of the guys but my top three biases are Suho, Yixing and Xiumin which are the boys that hardly get any attention xD and about stereotypes, I also agree...I have a story where Yixing is actually a police officer and we could say kinda corrupted but not in the bad way ;) (you’ll have to read the Lay Series to find out more lol) As for Suho, I still have many fics that I still have on drafts but in one of them, he is a bodyguard.

I've stumbled upon your blog when you first posted it, but I haven't had the time to reply to it, but now I have some time on my hands and I've decided to give my opinion on this haha hope I'm not too late. Personally, I do write mostly about Baekhyun, Sehun, and Kai, although I have focused on Chen and Chanyeol previously. They are my biases, although actually all of the members are sorta my biases HAHA but when it comes to writing or my creative works, I would ALWAYS have a face automatically inserted when I imagine something. There's actually a lot of reasons to this, nobody can just pick out one reason and that would be it, it's not just a black and white or cookie cutter sorta deal; there are layers and corresponding reasons and factors to this that just collides and impacts each other into one whole fruition.



First of all, apart from my head placing face claims by default (according to what matches for me), some of the members in EXO just stand out so much and are bursting with character that authors find it easier to work with their characters bcs their exposure have helped us to fit them in certain molds, they've helped us imagine them in different scenarios with what they present to us, I think that's one of the reasons why a lot of fans would place ppl like Baekhyun as the loud one, Kai as the player, Suho as the nerd, and so on. Aside from them totally fitting that certain mold since they've dominantly showed that sort of character in real life, sometimes your head can't help but to think that no one fits those roles better than them, but I'm not saying that Lay or Xiumin or Chen can't be the loud one or the y or strict ones or smth haha you just need more work to imagine those, meanwhile the other members who have shown more sides similar to those roles could slip inside the mold like butter due to the identity each of them have built or what authors in general have built that it just dents in most ppl's heads, hence bringing the TENDENCY to give certain members 'stereotypical' roles (authors who can give this sort of semi-permanent idea is actually, for me, a good sign that they have a gift for describing and painting someone that it becomes a dominant trait that most readers would agree and/or immediately think of as their trademark identity, I mean you need a certain skill to affect someone or a large ppl that way so kudos to them).



Secondly, different members are muses to different people. Personally, Baekhyun is my muse (that sounded cringey oml), but yea he is. He's my biggest source of inspiration, Idk how he does it, but I take one look at him, an ideas just rain down on me like it's a freaking storm ^^" Chanyeol would be a close second, and Chen would be tied with Sehun on third, but yknow it's just based on my experience, bcs inspiration could come anywhere, anytime, but they tend to just pellet me with inspiration even when I'm not looking for any. So, I'm pretty sure that this 'muse' factor also applies to a few ppl. I find this factor something uncontrollable, or smth that can grow overtime, but I personally can't force someone or smth to inspire me. For myself, I find Minseok and Tao quite hard to work with. In real life, he has a lot of character, although he's sort of overpowered by the others, but he has a distinctive color of his own, but for some reason I just can't work with him as easily with other members, AS A MAIN CHARACTER. As side characters, I could think of lots of complimenting character tropes to him, although it takes some time for me to think about it, but as a main character, it's tough for me. Would I want them to inspire me? Of course, but I can't just snap my fingers and make it happen. I want to write them effortlessly but it's just hard for me :(



There are only certain members that I can take romantically. I love all of them to bits, but I don't look at all of them with the same type of love. This makes it challenging for me to imagine members that I can't take seriously in terms of romance in an actual romantic plot. I guess I could, but it wouldn't have as much soul as the others, it would be rather half-baked. Every time I try to take Suho seriously in a romantic scene, I just laugh my off bcs I look at him bcs all I can think of is his high pitched laugh ;V; it needs some work lol (YALL THINK IT'S EASY FOR ME TO MAKE HIM A SERIOUS CHARACTER? IT'S NOT LOL).



I believe having a bias helps the creative juices flow, and it's pretty much self-explanatory. You have more motivation and force to write with them, bcs it's easier and you genuinely enjoy writing about them. It's not that other authors don't enjoy writing about their biases, but writing about their biases has that extra oomf you know what I mean lol.



I guess a preference of certain styles or themes of stories applies too, so I guess it's a given that they'd choose members with an identity that is closely linked to those sorts of themes to be chosen as main characters in their story. Let's say a dark story would tend to draw Kai, Baekhyun and Chanyeol in the scene, while fluff ones would involve Chanyeol, Yixing, Baekhyun and Chen more often than not. It's quite stereotypical I guess, but I think it's bcs the author feels that they suit the theme much better. Here's the thing, some members are just so dominant and much more exposed than others that it would naturally affect the audience that the ones who catch their eyes the most would take over. Baekhyun, for example, is such a versatile character to write with, and that's partially bcs we've seen him being loud, being fluffy, being cute, being sad, working in a historical environment, in all sorts of different hair colors and styles that just gives off different vibes (dont tell me that there wasnt an era in which the baekhyun ff that came out that time were him being a girly boy who lived and breathed eyeliners), him being y, him being , him being shy, and so on--he showed a lot of sides to him that the camera managed to capture, and he is such a bright and dominant character that he just naturally sticks out like a sore thumb--when you put ppl like Luhan, Minseok and Lay beside him, they just get naturally quiet or pushed away (by the camera), bcs they work in the entertainment business, and since I study Communication, Ik that this helps A LOTTT in denting an image in the head of the audience. Due to this, a vast number of experienced or inexperienced, good or still-need-practice authors would use ppl like these as a main character, bcs they act like one in real life. Once again, I'm not saying that the other members aren't worth writing or don't have any character at all, bcs they do and lots of it! But with the combined impact of more exposure compared to others, naturally bursting character, so and so, the GENERAL public would have this phenomenon in which they have psychologically determined to think of the way they were marketed has made them a more effective top-of-mind product or TOMA--top of mind awareness (please take this choice of word loosely, I'm not saying that they're just products or things). This is why I've said that it's a combined impact sort of deal, some members could even be made a bias solely bcs of the way they've marketed their personalities and there are certain ways the media can make you believe that those characters are what you should love the most. But with time and exposure, the others could easily catch up, I mean it's not a permanent thing. Personal preference can change somebody's way of thinking, regardless of how much or less they are exposed, or the muse thing can happen, chanyeol or kai stans are coincidentally mostly filled with ppl who love to write perhaps, or there would be more reasons to this, we could go on and on lol.



I literally want to explain more, but I can't seem to put them into words well haha but I hope you sort of get the idea. Since I'm more or less often associated with studies of media, communication, sociology and such, I could already think of numerous and branching reasons haha. There's more to it than meets the eye! But all in all, it all comes down to everybody's personal preference and point of view. I hope I didn't confuse you ;v;

Well, I'm not any pro writer, but as I'm sort of writing on this platform so I'd also like to share my opinion!!

For me, there's only one person in EXO whom I can think of romantically!
I kind of started writing because after reading fanfics I used to (and still do) get so many ideas of my own regarding Baekhyun. Basically, I started writing to surpass all those imaginations that were bottling inside me.
So yeah, you can say I'm a Baekhyun trash and I actually can't think of any other EXO members as the lead role even though I love each and every member with the core of my heart ( but that's more of a sibling kind of love and it makes me really uncomfortable if I read romantic stories of them, let alone writing about them)


Idk how much my answer helped you but it was an interesting question! ^^
And I believe every different person have different reasons as you can see in the comments down below, so you might never get an EXACT answer to this!!

hi! these are really good questions omg. I think I choose who I write about based off my biases/bias wreckers just because I feel like I have a better understanding of their characterizations this way. I've actually always thought that sehun, kai, baek, and chanyeol are more versatile to write as characters. I feel like yixing and junmyeon (and kyungsoo) especially are harder to write because they have a very specific type of personality and if you try to write them another way, it comes off as out of character and inauthentic. that's just how I feel about it, but I mostly choose exo members based off who I think fits the plot/storyline best and feel most comfy writing about my biases/bias wreckers

Thank you for posting this. I hope people will understand that they are just use to visualize a character in a story, not to disrespect the real person.

Hey! I’m not sure how many of my works you’ve read but since you’ve asked for opinions, I’ll just share my thoughts as a writer, if that’s okay! Personally, whenever I write something, I don’t rly have a specific person in mind (eg I want to write a fic with XXX or YYY as my main character) but I rely a lot on inspiration? I’m a dancer so maybe that kinda contributes to it, the way I create is really based off inspiration. For dance that means hearing a piece of music and being inspired - it really doesn’t matter what type of music it is, pop/ballad/EDM etc, although I do have a preference for certain genres. When I write, I really tend to draw from my real life experiences n things I see around me, eg Contractual Obligations was largely based off a college course I was taking at that time. As for my other work Lotto, it was based off the Lotto mv! For me personally, I find it important to stay open and I don’t really try to “force” anyone into my plots, I just get inspired n try to let it come naturally? Writing’s different for everyone though and this is ultimately a way to destress and a nice hobby for me, my main hustle is dance so honestly I try not to stress over stories, I want what I write to be my creative outlet. I feel like people expect a lot from authors sometimes, but I try my best and all I want is to write happily and make my readers happy (or sad if I’m writing angst HAHA). Personally as a dancer I often find myself looking for something or someone that rly rly inspires me, like a muse that kinda just hits you really hard, you know? And when I find it I start creating.



Also on that last bit of your post...JM as a corrupt police officer does sound like a good idea mind if I use it someday?

I guess it's because we have different imaginations o. My bias in Exo is Lay but the characters I gave him are always supporting roles but with a great contribution in the story or sometimes I can imagine him as a bad person.Of course, I like to write a story where he will be the main character but maybe I want to make it perfect. Oh I always imagined Lay playing different roles for example: A guy who lost his own memory,a guy who has split personality or even a killer(he said its his dream role)

About the Chen being a father and husband. I think your right about that. I'm also thinking of putting him in a story and I don't care what will people say because it is my story and I planned for it a long time ago before the news of his marriage. Think of it like this, they are just acting out your stories so you will be more inspired to write about it, they are what your mind visualize. We have our freedom to write as long as we don't meant any harm. To write effectively, use what your heart desires.
Good casting makes a good imaginations for readers

I never write OC-stories so I can’t answer for why people choose those members as their first go-to in OC-stories.

But in regards to writing the other members in other settings - I usually choose my characters based on the story plot. One of my newer stories I wanted Chanyeol to be the main because he fit the concept of the main so well but I struggled a little with the others because the pairing I’d end up with is very rare - but went ahead with it regardless because those characters just fit the story and the pairing turned out working surprisingly well for the story.

I also agree that making Joonmyun and Yixing rich business men is a stereotypical way of writing but it’s a very classic character in fanfics (regardless of fandom) and I think those two really exude the aura people are looking for so it’s an easy go-to. In my opinion it’s so much more fun to bend the rules a little and step out of the classic characters. But that’s just my opinion. ^^’

My bias is Minseok, but I think I have most EXO-stories centering Chen actually. Idk, his character is easy to play around with. And when it comes to the MAMA-universe I favor Chen and Chanyeol over any of the other members. Their powers are just *chef’s kiss* perfect.

Good question! I had same thoughts too. My bias is actually Yixing/Junmyeon.

To be honest I've tried writing a Junmyeon fic once before -- but I guess because he is my bias, I tend to get too excited and got too carried away with my writing that the story for Junmyeon got branched away from its original plot too much. Till today, the story has been deactivated and sitting on my Drafts lol.

Ever since then, I find it difficult for me to write stories about my bias without getting overly excited, and I get really frustrated if I stopped writing because I desperately needed to get the story idea out of my head, so I decided to write about someone else in EXO instead -- at least I am more grounded this way. And to balance things a little, I put my biases as secondary lead characters that has important roles in the story, so that I am still driven to write LOL.

Hello Debo~,


I can't speak from the perspective of an author that's done this but I feel that it may be because some authors, especially when it comes to fanfiction, really want to be noticed as soon as possible and when you begin with a story that features Baekhyun, Chanyeol, Sehun or Kai it's automatically going to get views since they're so popular. I feel that they probably have the most solo stans and solo stans are a big part of the fanfiction world. Especially in KPop. When a story doesn't pull in views some fanfiction authors tend to lose inspiration, determination and passion for that story very quickly and ultimately either delete, forget or move on from it. It's easy to see what members are favored in the fanfiction world, even if unconsciously, so people probably who want to write fanfictions will go for Baekhyun, Kai, ect for that reason. Also, some authors will just genuinely enjoy writing from the POVs of Baekhyun, Kai, ect. Maybe those personalities and ways attract them and it's hard to say no to writing from their POV since biases and bias wreckers pulls are so strong.
They are arguably the most visible members of EXO and that visibility enables fans to see their personalities much more clearly than those of Suho, Xiumin, ECT. That visibility makes it so easy for people to write from their POVs in fanfiction. And that brings me to the stereotypes- stereotypes sometimes make writing easier and when they're linked with a very visible idol that's what some people will call a cheatcode to creating a hot and easy story.
Writing from the POV of Suho, Kyungsoo, ECT may take a lot more time and effort to craft a good story around them because the author themselves have to build and plot their personalities and character development. A lot of the authors involved in fanfiction are young so they're attending school, work, tutoring, sports, ect. Time and effort aren't easy to come about...

I am probably wrong in all I'm talking about above, I can't say that I know for sure because I'm not in that position nor do I think that way but that's what it seems like to me as someone who's viewing it from the outside. I hope that if I was not able to provide a decent answer to any of your questions, that you find them soon hun!


Love, wildheartx~! ❤❤❤❤
Mwah~!

I’ve had such questions myself. There are a lot of authors who have Jun, Yixing, Jongdae and Kyungsoo as biases but write about the others. The popularity factor is definitely something to consider, but I noticed that there are also a LOT of Baek, Jongin, and Sehun biases who writes about them, I mean more than the others (it doesn’t mean there totally isn’t. As I said, they sometimes write about the other members for other purposes) but there are a lot who can’t really write aside from their biases, like myself. I’m a hardcore Baekhyun fan and I only recently began to write about the other members. It’s so hard, actually, to write about exo’s other members that are not your biases, because you’re not driven by the ‘squeal’ factor like the one that drives you when you write about your biases.

My personal opinion is that when I come up with a story idea, it normally has a face that fits with it right away. All my ideas come from my daydreams so I'm already envisioning who will be the lead. I try and imagine other members, even other groups, but in the end it has to be the person I first imagined with the plot.
For me it's never been who my bias is or who has more stories written for them and I never really pay attention to if people will do things like visit my Kyungsoo story more than my Kai story or my Xiumin story.
Though I have no doubt that some people write for their bias because that's just who they think of when they have a story line and I also iamgine their might be some people out there who would write for Baekhyun because his stories pull more readers, just like people will write stories for Suho because their isn't enough written about him